Pollutant dispersion in a developing valley cold-air pool

Pollutants are trapped and accumulate within cold-air pools, thereby affecting air quality. A numerical model is used to quantify the role of cold-air-pooling processes in the dispersion of air pollution in a developing cold-air pool within an alpine valley under decoupled stable conditions. Results indicate that the negatively buoyant downslope flows transport and mix pollutants into the valley to depths that depend on the temperature deficit of the flow and the ambient temperature structure inside the valley. Along the slopes, pollutants are generally entrained above the cold-air pool and detrained within the cold-air pool, largely above the ground-based inversion layer. The ability of the cold-air pool to dilute pollutants is quantified. The analysis shows that the downslope flows fill the valley with air from above, which is then largely trapped within the cold-air pool, and that dilution depends on where the pollutants are emitted with respect to the positions of the top of the ground-based inversion layer and cold-air pool, and on the slope wind speeds. Over the lower part of the slopes, the cold-air-pool-averaged concentrations are proportional to the slope wind speeds where the pollutants are emitted, and diminish as the cold-air pool deepens. Pollutants emitted within the ground-based inversion layer are largely trapped there. Pollutants emitted farther up the slopes detrain within the cold-air pool above the ground-based inversion layer, although some fraction, increasing with distance from the top of the slopes, penetrates into the ground-based inversion layer.Peer reviewe

Visualisation of urban airborne laser scanning data with occlusion images

Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) was introduced to provide rapid, high resolution scans of landforms for computational processing. More recently, ALS has been adapted for scanning urban areas. The greater complexity of urban scenes necessitates the development of novel methods to exploit urban ALS to best advantage. This paper presents occlusion images: a novel technique that exploits the geometric complexity of the urban environment to improve visualisation of small details for better feature recognition. The algorithm is based on an inversion of traditional occlusion techniques

A self-adaptive segmentation method for a point cloud

The segmentation of a point cloud is one of the key technologies for three-dimensional reconstruction, and the segmentation from three-dimensional views can facilitate reverse engineering. In this paper, we propose a self-adaptive segmentation algorithm, which can address challenges related to the region-growing algorithm, such as inconsistent or excessive segmentation. Our algorithm consists of two main steps: automatic selection of seed points according to extracted features and segmentation of the points using an improved region-growing algorithm. The benefits of our approach are the ability to select seed points without user intervention and the reduction of the influence of noise. We demonstrate the robustness and effectiveness of our algorithm on different point cloud models and the results show that the segmentation accuracy rate achieves 96%

CLASSIFICAÇÃO DE NUVEM DE PONTOS LASER UTILIZANDO O CONCEITO DE ANÁLISE DE COMPONENTES PRINCIPAIS E O FATOR DE NÃO AMBIGUIDADE

Este artigo apresenta um método que realiza a classificação automática dos pontos amostrados por um sistema de varredura a LASER aerotransportado (SVLA). Nesse método são utilizados os autovalores da matriz de variâncias e covariâncias (MVC). Para o cálculo da MVC considera-se uma vizinhança no entorno do ponto de interesse, a qual é determinada com base no conceito de entropia. A classificação é executada comparando os autovalores calculados, referentes a cada ponto e sua vizinhança, com os autovalores das estruturas ou classes predefinidas. Como medida de similaridade utiliza-se a distância euclidiana no espaço dos autovalores e, com o intuito de eliminar os pontos ambíguos, incorporou-se ao método o fator de não ambiguidade (FNA). Para avaliação do método proposto e implementado, utilizou-se um conjunto de dados LASER referente ao município de Presidente Prudente/SP, cuja densidade aproximada é de 8 pontos/m2. Os resultados mostram que mesmo diante da complexidade dos ambientes reais, algumas estruturas foram bem definidas. Com a incorporação do FNA foi possível identificar e eliminar pontos com alta probabilidade de pertencer a duas classes (pontos ambíguos), geralmente amostrados sobre vegetações, regiões com pequena densidade de pontos, próximos das regiões de bordas e sobre linhas de transmissão próximas as edificações. Por meio da avaliação quantitativa verificou-se que a incorporação do FNA ao método de classificação possibilitou diminuir a quantidade de pontos incorretamente classificados, principalmente para os maiores objetos. Além disso, foi possível verificar que o uso do FNA é interessante para áreas de vegetação, uma vez que grande parte dos pontos ambíguos são identificados

An integrated assessment of options for rural wastewater management in Austria

M. Starkl, M. Ornetzeder, E. Binner, P. Holubar, M. Pollak, M. Dorninger, F. Mascher, M. Fuerhacker and R. Haberl;Water Science & Technology, 56 (2007): 5, 105-113This paper reports a recently finished, interdisciplinary project on rural wastewater management in Austria. The objective of the project was to study alternative wastewater management options based on separation of the wastewater into its constituent parts, and to compare them with conventional ones. Thereby, a feasibility study of both conventional and alternative options for wastewater management in six model regions was carried out. Life cycle costs and social acceptance were analysed by using a case study-based assessment approach. However, hygienic and environmental risks were evaluated on a more general level. In order to complement the findings, a survey on urine separation system users in the Solar City of Linz was conducted. Based on these assessments and empirical findings, the paper concludes that options using a full separation of all wastewater fractions should be considered with care. Options based on a separation of only grey water and black water or in the liquid/solid phase can offer ecological and financial advantages over conventional options. Further, options combining wastewater management and regional biogas plants were identified as an interesting solution. However, legal constraints restrict this option currently

Flight optimization algorithms for aerial LiDAR capture for urban infrastructure model generation

Aerial Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) offers the potential to auto-generate detailed, three-dimensional (3D) models of the built environment in urban settings. Auto-generation is needed as manual generation is not economically feasible for large areas, and yet such models would offer distinct advantages for a wide range of applications from improved noise and pollution prediction to disaster mitigation modeling. Current technology and the dense geometry of urban environments are two major constraints in LiDAR scanning. This paper outlines the difficulties related to effective vertical surface data capture in an urban environment for the purpose of 3D visualization. Further, the traditional point data captured with LiDAR scans is unsuitable for visualization. Therefore, surface reconstruction algorithms must be applied to the data. These algorithms are largely dependent on the uniformity of the resolution in the point data. Principles for geometric optimization of data capture on vertical surfaces, thereby improving resolution uniformity, are presented.Science Foundation IrelandNeed to link to publisher version at: http://cedb.asce.org/cgi/WWWdisplay.cgi?170964. DG 02/07/10 au ti ke SB. 21/7/1